Carpet Merchant Buys 10 Room House

The March 16, 1904 issue of the St. Louis Republic carried a short blurb about a home sale in the Fairground Neighborhood of St. Louis, MO. John H. Tiemeyer, a successful carpet merchant, purchased a ten room luxury home for $8,500. In today’s dollars, it would be from $250,000 to $300,000.

3212 Barrett Street – Courtesy of Geo St. Louis

The home at 3212 Barrett Street, which is a block from N. Grand Boulevard, one of the city’s major north/south thoroughfares, would be the last home John Tiemeyer ever purchased. Tiemeyer passed away at the Barrett Street home during the night on August 3, 1910 from cerebral apoplexy.

George J. Wanstrath sold the house to Tiemeyer. Wanstrath was the President of the Real Estate Corporation. Wanstrath’s company may have built the house in 1901 or purchased and sold it from the original builder.

Sometime after Tiemeyer’s passing, his widow Magdelana sold the residence. Mrs. Tiemeyer lived on Pershing Avenue at the time of her death in 1927.

Today, the estimated value of the 2,832 square foot house is in the $50,000 to $70,000 range. The home still appears to be in great shape.

Unfortunately, I only know a brief episode in this building’s history but it is the stories connected with buildings that makes them homes instead of houses.

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